Spring bed-bottom.



No. 66!,959. Patented Nov. 20, I900.

S. D. DILTS. SPRING BED BOTTOM.

(Application filed Jan. 8, 1900.)

(No Model.) 1f Sheets-Sheet I.

In I I: 1 I V (Mite a l; 13 1% {5' 1 5 Law/67127? r B3 QA Q (LVN/q, W his odzko'vneyj No. 66!,959. Patented Nov. 20, I900. s. n. DILTS.

SPRING BED BOTTOM.

(Application filed Jan. 6, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Qt'test, Jwawz? OQW W O QwM Urrn Tans STOKLEY D. DILTS, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

SPRING BED-BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,959, dated November 20, 1900.

Application filed January 6, 1900. $erial N0. 538. \No model!) To (all whont it flea/y concern:

Be it known that I, STOKLEY D. DI'LTS, of the city of Decatur, county of Macon, and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Spring Bed-Bottom, of which the following is a specification.

This invention provides a superior bed bottom particularlyadapted for metal bedsteads, and its structure is such that thin sheet metal, as aluminium, may be advantageously used for the bed-support. It is exemplified in the structure hereinafter described, and it is defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification,Figure 1 is a plan of the under surface of the bed-bottom. Fig. 2 is a plan of the upper surface of the bed-bottom. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the invention. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the spring-supporting cross-bars and the springs thereon. Fig. 5 is a detail of a side bar of the frame of the device.

The frame of the structure consists of end bars 2 and side bars 4. The end bars are longitudinally concaved in their outer surfaces to receive rollers 3, and the side bars are each made in two separate parts connected by means that enable the extension of the bars. In this instance the side bars are screwthreaded on the opposing ends of their respective sections, one section having a right-hand thread and the other a left-hand thread, and turnbuckle-sleeves 5 form the extensible connections between the sections. This is the preferred, but not invariable, form of side bar. The sheet 1, that forms the support for the bedding, is preferably made of thin aluminium, though it may be made of other thin metal, of woven wire, or other flexible fabric, and it extends freely around the rollers in the end bars and forms an endless band of itself or through the intervention of a spring-supporting frame. in this case aspring-supporting frame composed of slats 6, 7, and 8, secured together by bolts 9 and stayed by trussstrips 11, is interposed between the ends of the mattress-supporting sheet 1, and the ends of the sheet are attached to the outer slats 6 and 8, respectively. A set of springs 14 rest on the slats between the bars and the upper run of the mattress-supporting sheet,and they give the required elasticity to the bed-bottom. A rod 15 (shown only in Fig. 4) is preferably employed to hold each cross-row of springs suitably spread, and to effect this result the ends of the rods connect one with the outer side of the upper coil of each outer spring. The rollers 3 turn freely in the grooves of the end bars 2.

The spring-supporting slats are ordinarily given sufficient support from the mattresssupporting sheet, particularly when such sheet is made of metal; but to provide against emergencies rods 12 are extended under the ends of the slats in position to limit extreme downward movement of the slats, and hooks 13 of the rods 12 catch over the side rails and sustain the rods.

The frame of the structure is put together with the ends of the side rails close together, as shown in Fig. 5. The sheet 1 is then extended around the frame and connected with the side slats of the spring-supporting frame. Then the nuts 10 on bolts 9 are tightened until the sheet or band is under proper tension and the strut-strips are fastened to the slats to hold the intermediate slat or slats in place. This completes the bed-bottom ready for use, and whenever it is necessary or desirable to increase the tension of the mattresssupport the sections 4 of the side rails are forced apart by means of the turnbuckles or their equivalent.

Whenever the upper run of the mattresssupporting sheet is pressed downward by the weight of the user the preliminary slack developed by forcing the convexity out of the upper run is at once taken up by the lower run of the sheet, and further depression is resisted in part by the strength of the material of which the sheet is composed and in part by the interposed springs. The sheet moves freely around both ends of the frame, and so there is no tendency to carry the axes of the springs out of the vertical.

I claim 1. A bed-bottom comprising a frame the end pieces of which are longitudinally concaved, rollers in the concave's of the end pieces of the frame, an endless mattress-supporting sheet run around the rollers and springs between the runs of the sheet.

2. A bed-bottom comprising a frame, acontractible spring-support, a mattress-s11 pporting sheet run around the ends of the frame and connected with the spring-support and springs on the support under the upper run of the sheet. I

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

S'IOKLEY D. DILTS. Witnesses:

JAMES S. BALDWIN, S. R. GHEN. 

